keeper Archives - Diary of Difference

Hello, lovelies!

Welcome to the January TBR! I always love January, because I love planning, and I also love making stats about my reading from the previous year. This January, I was quite busy, so I am still catching up with my stats, but I did enjoy playing my TBR Raffle Game and choosing my books for the month.

December was a very interesting month, and I ended up reading a lot of Christmas books and books that I was sure I’d enjoy.

You probably already know this, but just a reminder that I share my current reading updates on my Instagram posts and stories, so don’t forget to follow my Instagram to see what I am reading at any given time during this month. And this month, there will be a lot of surprises there as well, which you don’t want to miss.

And with that being said, let the January TBR raffle commence.

The January TBR Raffle

I am filming my TBRs on my Instagram Stories. Make sure to follow me on Instagram, and check out the “Monthly TBR” highlight at the beginning of each month!

My TBR Raffle game is simple: I have a number of prompts that I put in small papers, into a jar. I draw a prompt, and I fit in a book that matches my prompt. Here is a list of the current prompts I have. Feel free to leave any prompt suggestions in the comments. Once the paper is drawn, I put it back into the jar, so it has an equal chance to get drawn again. I draw a total of 6 prompts, which result in 6 books for the month. If I fail to read a book, it automatically goes into the next month.

My January TBR

✨ 1. 5 Star Prediction

Keeper by Jessica Moor is a book that I feel I will really enjoy, which is why I chose for my 5 star prediction prompt. I am currently in the mood for thrillers, and you will notice a trend this month as well.

Synopsis:

When Katie Straw’s body is pulled from the waters of the local suicide spot, the police decide it’s an open-and-shut case. A standard-issue female suicide.

But the residents of Widringham women’s refuge where Katie worked don’t agree. They say it’s murder.

Will you listen to them?

Purchase Links:
Amazon UK | Amazon US

✨ 2. Gift

I am so happy to be picking this book up in January, because it already means so much to me. My high-school teacher recommended this book to me, and my boyfriend bought it for me back in November for my birthday, because I wouldn’t stop talking about it. The synopsis sounds so intriguing, and I am really looking forward to reading this one!

Synopsis:

Discover the forty rules of love…

Ella Rubinstein has a husband, three teenage children, and a pleasant home. Everything that should make her confident and fulfilled. Yet there is an emptiness at the heart of Ella’s life – an emptiness once filled by love.

So when Ella reads a manuscript about the thirteenth-century Sufi poet Rumi and Shams of Tabriz, and his forty rules of life and love, her world is turned upside down. She embarks on a journey to meet the mysterious author of this work.

It is a quest infused with Sufi mysticism and verse, taking Ella and us into an exotic world where faith and love are heartbreakingly explored…

Purchase Links:
| Amazon UK | Amazon US |

✨ 3. Borrowed

To be honest, when borrowed pops up, there is only one person that I borrow books from, and that’s my sister. So the genre and the titles are usually YA fantasy and/or romance. Ever since I read The Bane Chronicles, which is a collection of short stories featuring Magnus Bane, I wanted to read Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy. This book is a collection of short stories featuring mostly Simon. I love the Shadowhunter series, even though I read them a long time ago. I actually think it’s time for me to re-read them soon as well.

Synopsis:

Ten stories with brand new illustrations following the adventures of Simon Lewis, star of the #1 New York Times bestselling series The Mortal Instruments, as he trains to become a Shadowhunter. Simon has been a human and a vampire, but after the events of City of Heavenly Fire left him stripped of his memories, he isn’t sure who he is any more. When the Shadowhunter Academy reopens, Simon throws himself into this new world of demon-hunting, determined to find himself again. Whomever this Simon might be…

Purchase Links:
| Amazon UK |Amazon US |

✨ 4. Sent by Author

I wish this prompt came up more often, as I do have a bit of a backlist of titles that authors have sent me. And this time, I am choosing After the Last Battle by Matthew Moss.

Synopsis:

In a post-apocalyptic world, where the Hordes of Hell reign supreme, the only thing anyone could ask for is peace and quiet. Having lived his entire life in a secluded village, Telarious has had exactly that, yet for him it was misery. Bored of his monotonous life as a hunter, Telarious looked for any chance of conflict, so that he might prove himself to be more.

When a band of demons tear through his village in search of an angel in hiding, one of the last of the nearly extinct species, his wish is granted tenfold. This one act reveals Telarious’s hidden potential and sends him and his new angelic counterpart into a neighboring colony, where the struggle for power rages on.

In over their heads, the two must learn to work together and with new, powerful allies to defeat the demons that have claimed Earth as their own.

Purchase Links:
| Amazon UK |Amazon US |

✨ 5. Mystery

Last One to Die by Cynthia Murphy is a book that is being published in January. Also one that I am very excited about. I am also participating in a blog tour for it, and my review will be up on the 14th January. Spoiler – I already read it and it’s a 5 star.

Synopsis:

Young, brunette women are being attacked in the city of London.

16-year-old, Irish-born Niamh has just arrived for the summer, and quickly discovers that the girls being attacked look frighteningly similar to her.

Determined to make it through her Drama Course, Niamh is placed at the Victorian Museum to put her drama skills to the test, and there she meets Tommy: he’s kind, fun, attentive, and really hot! . . . Nonetheless, there’s something eerie about the museum.

As the two strands of present-day serial attacker and sinister Victorian history start to collide, Niamh realises that things are not as they seem. Will she be next?

Purchase Links:
Amazon UK | Amazon US

✨ 6. Instagram Pick

Well, I asked Instagram, and Instagram chose Fled by Meg Keneally for me.

Synopsis:

Gayle is a highly successful and motivated business woman, but her success has come at a price – she hasn’t spoken to her daughters, Ella and Samantha, for years. But when Gayle has an accident at work, she realises she needs to make amends with her family.

And so she invites herself to join Ella and Samantha for their Christmas in the beautiful Scottish Highlands. The sisters are none too pleased that their mother has inserted herself into their Christmas plans. They have each other – and don’t need their mother back in their lives. Or so they think…

As they embark on their first family Christmas together in years, will the three women learn that sometimes facing up to a few home truths is all you need to heal your heart?

Purchase Links:
Amazon UK | Amazon US |

And that’s my January TBR. There are only 6 books in here, which means I will most probably be reading more. Keep an eye on my blog posts and social media. And wish me luck! <3
Make sure to follow me on Instagram, so you can stay up to date with my current updates during the month.
What is your January TBR? Let me know in the comments!

I am so happy to be the one starting this amazing blog tour for Keeper by Jessica Moor! Huge thank you to the team at Viking, for sending me a copy of the book, to read and provide an honest review. Please check out the other participants as well.

★★★★

Keeper by Jessica Moor is one of the most gripping thrillers I have read this year!

Synopsis:

When Katie Straw’s body is pulled from the waters of the local suicide spot, the police decide it’s an open-and-shut- case. A standard-issue female suicide.

But the residents of Widringham women’s refuge where Katie worked don’t agree. They say it’s murder.

Will you listen to them?

My Thoughts:

As soon as I started reading Keeper, I couldn’t put it down. The story is gripping from the very first moment, and the intensity keeps growing with each page.

Scenes from THEN and scenes from NOW give us a story of Katie’s life before, and the investigation of Katie’s death now. In the past, we get a detailed view of Katie’s life in her new relationship, and how it progresses from true love to something very unhealthy. In the current time, we meet a couple of refuge women, who all suffered domestic violence, as they are being interviewed by the detectives, in the hope to shine some light to Katie’s death.

There is no evidence to point out that Katie took her own life, but there is also no evidence to suggest that she has been killed. And the detectives now have to rely on small clues, to try and figure out what exactly happened that day. Some secrets that Katie kept also don’t help their investigation at all.

Even though this is Katie’s story, it is also the story of the refuge women. Even more so. Through their experiences, we can fully understand Katie’s perspective. And through their lives, we find out secrets hidden that should never have come to surface.

The main subject of the book is about domestic violence, both physical and psychological. This can be a trigger warning, as many scenes go into a lot of detail. We meet different characters that suffered in their relationships in different ways. And while they are in the refuge home, we see the aftermath that these relationships have on the women. Some women are unable to speak to men anymore. They are unable to trust people. Nothing is ever the same. And some decide to go back to that horrible environment, because it’s the only thing they know. On average, a woman tries to leave her partner seven times before she succeeds. This tells you all you need to know, of how hard it is to leave in the first place, and why it is so easy to also go back.

I loved the main mystery. The fact that we assume something happened to Katie, but we are not sure. It is not until the very end that we actually find out the truth. The plot twists in the end were very well done, and I really enjoyed that WOW factor. I have the urge to read the book again now, just to capture the secrets clues that were right in front of me, but I never saw them coming. I also loved the issue this book raises about domestic violence, the refuge centres, and how little help they are getting. Struggling for budgets and being ignored by large organisations is very a very common practice, and the women staying there can feel this, which results in them not feeling as safe as they should be, or not getting the help they really need.

Keeper is set in a very uncomfortable atmosphere. In each chapter, you can almost feel what these women are feeling, and even though I cannot relate to them, I could feel their pain and felt so anxious to help them. Jessica Moor was able to perfectly capture their fear, their anxiety, their struggle, and I could empathise with them.

Beautiful fast-paced thriller that you can’t put down, with amazing plot twists and topics so unfortunately common and infuriating! I definitely recommend it, you won’t be able to forget Keeper easily.

Purchase Links:
Amazon UK | Amazon US